MINNEAPOLIS – What happened Friday night in Miami is why the Dallas Mavericks went out last summer and signed guard Seth Curry to a four-year contract.
Curry was simply amazing against the Heat as he banged in 13 of his 15 field goal attempts, including eight of his nine shots from downtown while finishing with a career-high 37 points. It was obviously pleasing to the eye for Curry to see shot after shot find their intended destination.
“He played great,” center Kristaps Porzingis said. “He was on fire all night long.
“Eight for nine (from 3-point range), that’s incredible. Now that we’ve got the stats I’m thinking we should have gotten him more involved – more shots.”
For Curry, it was as if he was standing on South Beach and the basket looked like the Atlantic Ocean. That’s how dialed in he was against the Heat.
“You feel like if you touch the ball and any time you can get a shot up it’s like it’s going in,” Curry said. “So it’s a matter of staying focused and locked in.”
Actually, Curry has been staying focused and locked in for quite some time. Over the last 10 games, the six-year veteran has averaged 18.9 points and shot a sizzling 56 percent from the field and an even hotter 57.6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
“His shooting of the basketball has been phenomenal during an important stretch here,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “That’s definitely a positive.”
What’s even more phenomenal is that the most ardent NBA fan would assume that Curry’s older brother – Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry – is the 3-point shot-making king in the Curry family. But after his explosion against the Heat, Seth Curry has quietly moved past Hubert Davis and into second place in 3-point shooting percentage with at least 250 made threes in NBA history.
Stephen Curry’s coach – Steve Kerr – tops the list at 45.4 percent, Seth Curry is shooting 44.2 percent, Davis is third at 44.1 percent, Drazen Petrovic sits fourth at 43.7 percent and Stephen Curry rounds out the top five at 43.5 percent.
That shows how far Seth Curry has come since his NBA career took off when he averaged a career-high 12.8 points and shot 48.1 percent from the floor and 42.5 percent from downtown when he was with the Mavs during the 2016-17 season.
“We were finding him (against the Heat) and he had it going,” point guard Luka Doncic said. “He was looking like he had his shot, so it was kind of spectacular to see that.”
The Mavs (36-24) hope the spectacular shooting spree by Curry will continue when they play the Minnesota Timberwolves (17-41) on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at the Target Center.
“He’s a great shooter, obviously,” Porzingis said of Curry. “And when he has nights like that we’ve got to try to run more plays for him maybe, and get him even more involved.”
SPRAINED THUMB AFFECTING DONCIC: It was very clear in the 126-118 loss to the Miami Heat on Friday night that Luka Doncic’s sprained left thumb is affecting his game.
Doncic sprained his thumb during Wednesday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs. And there are certain things he just can’t do at this stage of the thumb’s healing process, like dribble the ball proficiently with his left hand.
“I thought it bothered him, but he kept playing,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He played through contact situations that it looked like the whistle could have blown, (but) didn’t.
“I thought he managed the frustrations with the officials well and just kept attacking, and that’s what he’s got to do.”
Doncic scored 23 points and distributed 10 assists against Miami, but was 7-of-17 from the field and missed all six of his 3-point attempts in 38 minutes. And the four rebounds he collected are his lowest total this season when he’s played more than 33 minutes.
At this time, Doncic doesn’t know how long it’ll be before his thumb completely heals.
“It’s going to heal by time,” he said. “I’m working on it every day.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
Share and comment